IN BRIEF (Page 24)

More women win power but they are in a minority

Led by Angela Merkel, Hillary Clinton and Theresa May, there have never been so many experienced and ambitious women in positions of influence, even if they remain heavily outnumbered.

Asian beetle destroys N.American trees

Over the next two years, grounds crews in St. Louis will cut down nearly one out of every five trees, altering the US city's leafy landscape for at least a generation.

Vigilante group moves to save cows from slaughter

The killing of cows is illegal in most of India, a largely Hindu nation

Rare meteor 'outburst' expected Thursday

BNorthern Hemisphere sky-gazers are in for a special treat on Thursday night with a rare shooting star "outburst", which astronomers hope will not be marred by clouds and a bright moon.

Duterte draws US ire over remarks about envoy

The US government on Monday summoned the charge d'affaires of the Philippine Embassy to clarify what it called "inappropriate comments" made by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte about US Ambassador Philip Goldberg.

Okinawa's snakeskin 'banjo' craft that stands test of time

Enormous python skins hang from a wire inside the sweltering workshop where Seibun Nakamine sculpts a piece of Okinawa's musical identity.

Backlash mounts as minister mulls 'full-day school' program

Criticisms rose on Tuesday against the Indonesian government's plan to introduce a program that adds more hours for elementary and junior high school students.

Trump faces fresh GOP pushback

50 Republican national security officials call him the most reckless candidate in history

Secret talks 'clinched Moscow-Ankara deal'

Russia and Turkey clinched a deal to normalize relations in secret talks in the Uzbek capital Tashkent following mediation by figures including a prominent Turkish businessman and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, a report said on Tuesday.

2 years of US-led airstrikes against IS have redrawn Iraqi map

Two years ago, the US-led coalition dropped the first airstrikes on the Islamic State group, ushering in a deeper phase of intervention that dramatically changed the fight against the militant group in Iraq. Since then, more than 9,400 coalition airstrikes have allowed Iraqi forces to slowly claw back cities, towns, supply lines and infrastructure.

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